"But this spell allows us to find the Neterus, now," Sebastian said, sounding frantic. "This was a side benefit no one could have predicted."
"Yes, we tracked them to this room just by following the tracer from your spell that got on their hands," Lilith spat. "But in a day even that will vanish and be useless. They only got a small bit from a tidal pool, not a f**king tidal wave like they were supposed to! Or from her being poisoned by the pearl that absorbed it into her own necklace - damn you, Sebastian. Look at the other side of that hotel door. It does not take a dark arts elemental genius to understand that there is nothing wrong with that man's libido! The hinges are about to come off the door if the wood doesn't give way, first!" She flung Sebastian aside and looked at Fallon. "Should I cut off his dick for this atrocity, Fallon? What say you? I'm too overwrought to decide."
Nuit held both hands up before his chest. "After being in your husband's chambers, I must defer to your wisdom, dear Lilith."
Sebastian swallowed hard and began walking backward.
"I lost Jezebel, and dear sweet Medusa out there for a po tion that backfired! Genghis and Machiavelli... oh!"
Fallon stood and materialized a black blade in his grip. "Machiavelli was lost to this incompetence?"
"Yes," Lilith screeched, walking in an agonized circle. "The resources we expended on this mission ... and to have Rivera banging the hinges off a hotel room door is too much for even me to bear. I could go up there right now and - "
"Lose your head to both of them," Fallon said, stepping away from his throne. 'Two rutting Neterus? Be serious, Lilith - and be advised." Nuit neared Sebastian with a deadly smile and slowly drew the black blade down his chest and over his stomach to come to a stop at his groin. He watched the smoldering trail the blade left. "Let us not be hasty, Lilith. Sebastian is a good resource, still." Then he leaned and sniffed, causing Sebastian to close his eyes. "Treason!"
Lilith tilted her head and came near Sebastian, both vam pires dangerously circling the warlock. "You have every warlock and witch's power essence threading in your blood," she whispered.
"You even slit Jezebel's throat," Nuit murmured, lifting a thick strand of Sebastian's hair away from his neck and pressing the blade harder against his groin. Both vampires' gazes locked as Sebastian squeezed his eyes tighter and made fists with his hands.
"Forgive me," Sebastian whispered. "I can still make good on my spell."
"Thissss ..." Nuit whispered with a hiss, licking Sebas tian's jugular, "is the most coldblooded coup I've seen in quite a while. Shall we meet in the middle of his throat, Lilith?" Lilith poised her fangs on the other side of Sebastian's neck. 'To the victor go the spoils," she murmured. "Wel come to council."
CHAPTER EIGHT
Every time they'd said, "Okay, this is the last time, and then we're going back to the suite,"
one thing would lead to another, somebody would mess up and touch the other person, and the whole madness would start again.
Damali leaned up from the floor on her elbows with her knees bent, looking at Carlos, who was sprawled flat on his back. "We have to check in with the team before it gets dark," she said, heaving in air. "The sun is going down and this doesn't make sense." He nodded with his eyes closed, trying to steady his breath. "You know we're gonna catch a ration of shit for this from everybody - so get ready." Damali let her head drop back with a groan as her legs slid out into a V in front of her.
"Awwww, maaaan... you know it."
Her foot accidentally brushed his arm and she felt his breath hitch in the pit of her stomach.
"Don't start," she whispered and began to draw her legs up toward her. He reached back and caught her by the ankle, and then slowly rolled over as he pulled her down the rug, staring at her. "Just one more time, then on my word, we'll go check in."
* * *
the mess was so intense and ridiculous that she literally had friction burns from the rug on her butt and her knees. He was so spent that he couldn't pull them into a fold to get them back to the team.
Sure, they'd had plenty of great sex together, dead or alive, but it still puzzled her that it had been so intense that Carlos's fantastic silver didn't blaze once in his irises. The more she thought about it, he also hadn't even presented mating-length fangs. Not that she was complaining in the
least.
As they slipped out of the vacant room at Hotel La Jolla and hurried to find a cab, she said a quick, silent barrier prayer so nothing could trail them back to the team. Safely tucked inside a taxi, her fevered mind finally had a chance to slowly come back to its own. Then it dawned on her, she and Carlos had been knocking boots until almost midnight with out a barrier around them... and the first seal of the Armageddon was broken - were they nuts?
Carlos turned and looked at her at the same time she qui etly freaked out. He grabbed her by her upper arms. "Don't worry, it's gonna be all right." Where did that come from? Did it matter at all? His hands were on her arms sending a desire ache into her nip ples. She kissed him so hard that she flattened him against the backseat of the cab. The driver looked in the rearview mirror and cleared his throat. Carlos broke the kiss, trying to be cool, then gave up the battle and pulled her to him hard again to put his tongue halfway down her throat.
"Listen," she said, flat-palming his chest as she whispered in a rush. She had to hold her hands in front of her in order to keep Carlos from flipping her beneath him and embar
rassing her out of her mind. Unsure whether he might attempt it, she glimpsed the waytoo-interested cabbie and tried to reason with the man next to her, who was breathing hard. "You're so exhausted, you can't even fly. We have to stop until we at least get to the suite. Okay?"
Carlos nodded and closed his eyes as her palms rested against his chest. She could feel his heart slamming against the heels of her hands as though trying to get out of his body. His breaths were so shallow as he tried to summon cool that she had to fight with her fingers
and will each digit not to touch his pebble-hard ni**les.
"Marines?" the cabbie asked brightly, seeming thoroughly amused. "Camp Pendleton?